- There's a certain idea that the more you make something easier or the more you make something efficient, the more work there becomes needed. Though we as a species have come so far and have everything we can possibly imagine we somehow need so much still. ---- "If the steam engine increased the efficiency of energy production, why would coal production go up? The answer was simple: reduced costs stimulated more demand. Wrote Jevons: ‘and eventually the greater number of furnaces will more than make up for the diminished consumption of each.’ The Jevons Paradox is everywhere. When the cotton gin was introduced in the mid-19th century, its increased efficiency at separating cotton seeds from the fiber meant more labor was needed for other parts of the production process. Instead of decreasing demand for slaves, it led to more slavery than ever." - [Link](http://aeon.co/essays/what-hunter-gatherers-demonstrate-about-work-and-satisfaction)